Sawbones in Siskiyou [Paperback]

Donald L. Meamber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2003

For nearly a quarter century, Donald L. Meamber, M.D., set out to research many nagging questions about his family, including, "Where in the world did a name like Meamber come from?" This book documents his search through libraries, genealogy records and microfilm, until he finally traveled to a tiny village in France and found his family's original birth, death and marriage records from the 1700's. Dr. Don, as his patients called him, also tells his own story of growing up in Yreka, Siskiyou County, California and marrying a home-town girl, the love of his life. He writes of his terrifying experiences as a Navy doctor in the Pacific during WW II, and of the overwhelming joy of returning to Yreka to raise his family. He went on to become the kind of small town doctor who makes house calls and cares deeply about his patients, a "Siskiyou Sawbones." Dr. Meamber spent years recording his stories on his trusty little Macintosh computer. In celebration of Dorothy and Don's 65th wedding anniversary on July 4, 2003, his daughters and grandchildren edited and compiled his many computer files and trunkfuls of pictures into this book.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Donald L. Meamber, M.D. has spent his lifetime helping others through his profession as a physician–and in the way he lived his life. As he grew older he became increasingly aware of how little he knew of his heritage, and so soon became an avid genealogist. Realizing that he didn’t want future generations to be as ignorant of the past as he had been, he wrote down on his computer what he knew and what he learned through research. We, his descendants, forever more now have Sawbones in Siskiyou to access the past in a way he wished so desperately to be able to do. In addition, countless other genealogists and historians have benefited from his efforts. His work is more appreciated than he will ever know.

Product Details

• Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: Donald and Dorothy Meamber Trust (November 2003)
• ISBN-10: 0974577316
• ISBN-13: 978-0974577319
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,055,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sawbones, September 15, 2004

By 

Kia Nian "Kia" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sawbones in Siskiyou (Paperback)

This book contains many interesting facts about the family as well as historical information. This book held my interest from beginning to end. I recommend this book to anyone that has an interest in historical events and family histories.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting, July 25, 2005

By 

Lois M. Barber (Livermore, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sawbones in Siskiyou (Paperback)

You will enjoy this book even if you are not a relative or former patient of Dr. Meamber. It is a good read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smiling across a century, October 7, 2004

By 

Clifford Stoll (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sawbones in Siskiyou (Paperback)

You can look at history from the top down: kings, presidents, and world events. Or you can see the past through the eyes of a family: marriages, work, and home life.

This book is that second kind of history -- the life of a family and a community, told by a guy that you wish were your next-door neighbor.

Anecdotes abound: delivering beer during the depression (and nearly running down a motorcycle cop on a dirt road); researching human growth hormone in the 1930's, serving in the medical corps during the war in the Pacific, then delivering babies in the hinterlands. Here's the textured life of a country doctor, back when house calls were the norm.

Beyond being the tapestry of one man's life, this book serves as a joyous model for genealogical reports ... weaving family stories and photos into the cloth of local and world events.